Charles w



(No Model.)

C. W. STIMSON.

BUTTON.

Patented May 8,1898.

lNV-ENTOR M 7%dm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC CHARLES WV. STIMSON, OF NEW YORK, N Y.

BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. Goa-51v, dated May 3, 1898.

Application filed May 29,1897.

To all whom it may concern:

York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented eel tain new and use- I ful Improvements in Buttons; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertuins to make and use the same.

My in vention relates to buttons, and is particularly applicable to the buttonsof' buttonand-loop garment-supporter elasps; and my invention consists in the novel construction of the button.

The object of my invention is to provide a button for use in garment-supporter clasps which shall insure the firm holding of even the thinnest fabrics by the elasp,which shall be incapable of causing any injury whatever to the garment, and which maybe constructed easily and cheaply. This object is attained in the button for garment-supporter clasps herein described, and illustrated in the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification, in which the same referenc'e-numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts, and in which Figure 1 is a top view ofa button embodying my invention, the button being of the type used in b'utton-and-loopgarment-supporter clasps; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the button. Fig. 3 is a transverse section of the complete clasp, the button not being seetioned, showing how the garment is held by the button and loop. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of another form of button, and Fig. 5 isv a top view of a complete button-and-loop clasp. a

In my button all the parts that come into contact with the fabric of the garment are composed of some soft elastic fibrous material, such as felt. Buttons have heretofore been made in which the surfaces which come into contact with the garment are formed of rubber, and in. such buttons the. neck and head, which constitute the port-ions with which the garment comes into contact, have been molded in one piece. Buttons have also been made in which the head is formed of felt, the shank of the button being of metal. The objects of forming the contact-surfaces Serial No. 638,769- li od lof the button of some soft elastic material are, first, to avoid tearing or otherwise injuring the fabric of the garment, and, second, to prevent the garment from slipping through the clasp when in use; but forming the head and neck of the button of rubber or forming the head of the button of felt has not proved successful in entirely preventing thin and smooth fabrics, like thin silk, from slipping through the clasp. 'It is necessary to make power is exerted where the sides of the loop press against. the shank of the button. It has been found that felt holds fabrics, and particularly the thin smooth fabrics, such as silk, more firmly than rubber, and the felt is also more pleasant to the touch and is in no way objectionable to the wearer, asis rubber; but it is important that the head of the button shall be made of some soft material in order to avoid straining of the threads of the fabric, and no satisfactory method has heretofore been known for making buttons with both the shank or neck and the head composed of felt or a similar material. practicable commercially to form the neck and head of the button from one piece of felt, as can be done with rubber.

I have found that a satisfactory button having a neck and head of felt or similar material canbe made by forming the neck and head of washers of felt, which 'may be out from sheets of the material, the washer for the head being of greater diameter than those of the shank. As felt is not ordinarily sold in thicknesses sulfieient for the neck of the button, the neck may be formed of two or more washers of the same or substantially the same size. These washers may all be connected to a base-plate by a suitable rivet or equivalent means of connection. I have found that with a button so formed slippin of even the It is imthinnest fabric through the clasp is entirely prevented, so that the results obtainedby the use of this button are farsuperior to thosefobtained by the use 'of any previous button. K

In the drawings, 1 is the button, and 2 the loop with which it is designed to coact.

3 is the strip of webbingto which both but-. ton and loop are fastened.

4 is the base-plate of the button. 5 is the neck or shank of the button, and 6 l the head, of somewhat greater diameter. The

neck and head-are formed of washers of some soft fibrous material having a some\ 'hat rough surface, such as felt, the washer for the head being of greater diameter than-those for the neck. The neck may be formed of a single thick washer or of two or more thinner washers, the latter being the construction shown in, the drawings.

The neck and head are fastened to the baseplate and are also fastened together by a headed rivet 7. This rivet is not fastened so tightly to thebase-plate 1 but what it may rotate with respect to the base-plate,it being desirable that the head and shank of the button may be capable of rotation, as this frequently facilitates the accommodation of the button to the garment, preventing straining of the fabric" upon one side.

In the form of button shown in Fig. 4 the button is stifiened and the rotation of the head and shank rendered easier by a sleeve 8, surrounding the rivet.

I My button is used'precisely as are the buttons heretofore; used. The felt, or other equivalent substance of which all of the button with which the stocking orother garment comes in contact arecomp'osed is soft and yielding and is quite incapable of tearing the stockingor straining any of its threads. Its somewhat rough surface, due to its fibrous nature, assists in holding-the=stook ing also also,

shank and the head 'tening device securing said washers to the base-plate andto each other, substantially as rivet passing through the parts the pressure of the sides of the loop forms grooves in the shank of the button, as shown in Fig. 3, intowhich the stocking is pressed. This is of great importance,

effective contactsurfacefor thin fabrics and so helps to insure the firm holding of such fabrics.

Having thus completely described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is

v 1. In a button for buttonand-loop clasps,

the combination, with a base-plate, of washers of elastic material forming the neck or of'the button, and a fasdescribed.

' 2, In a button for button-and-loop clasps, the combination, with a base-plate, of washers of elastic material forming the neck or shank and head of the button, and a rivet uniting said washers to the base-plate and to each other, substantially as described.

3. In a button for button-and-loop clasps, the combination, with a base-plate, a washer or washers of felt forming the neck of the button, and washer of similar material of larger diameter forming the head, of a headed said washers and secured to the base-plate, thereby securing said washers to each other and to the base-plate, substantially as described.

' 4. In a button for button-and-loop clasps, the combination, with a base-plate, and washers forming the neck or shank. and head. of

the button, of a rivet secured to the base- 1 plate and securing said washers thereto and to each other, and a sleeve surrounding said rivet,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

, NQHARLES, W. STIMSON. Witnesses:

MAY F; PETIQITE,

time! M; MABBLE: 

